4 - Selective State Response and Ethnic Minority Incorporation: The South Korean Case

Summary

How do states manage ethnocultural diversity? States have always been eager to control their borders. However, only recently has the importance of states in facilitating or constraining immigrant incorporation drawn academic attention (see Bloemraad 2006; Castles 1995; Freeman 2004; Hagan 2006; James 2005; Jayasuriya 1996; Joppke 1998, 2001; Papademetriou, 2003; Penninx 2003). A state's immigrant incorporation policies — such as naturalization rules, the provision of administrative services in an immigrant's native language, and the official endorsement of multiculturalism — can significantly facilitate immigrant settlement processes (Bloemraad 2006; Freeman 2004). Indeed, as Favell aptly noticed, the task of incorporating immigrants is increasingly conceived as “all things a state can ‘do’ ” (Favell 2005, p. 43). Favell's observation raises important research questions: Why do states decide to become involved in the business of incorporating ethnic minorities and immigrants? What are some consequences of such state intervention?

Comparing the concepts of incorporation, integration, and assimilation highlights the significance of state intervention in immigrant incorporation. Incorporation and integration are similar concepts, which include the measures and policies that assist immigrants in settling in the host countries. The notion of assimilation, in contrast, indicates a particular mode of incorporation. Assimilation is characterized by the fact that immigrants are expected to adopt the cultural traits and values of the host countries. The well-being of immigrants is influenced by the state's decision about whether to intervene in the incorporation of immigrants, and also by whether the state requests that immigrants assimilate. In the following section, I discuss and compare different modes of incorporation and their impact on immigrant incorporation in more detail.

The questions raised above are important in various Asian contexts. There is an increasing volume of immigration to several Asian countries. The well-being of these immigrants depends largely on specific immigrant incorporation policies. South Korea is one of the states facing the challenge of incorporating ethnic minorities. Korea has often been considered one of the most ethnically homogeneous countries in the world. In recent years, however, the ethnic composition of Korea's population has become more diverse than ever before — or more accurately, its ethnic diversity has finally been officially recognized. According to immigration statistics, the number of foreigners living in Korea doubled in the past five years, to about 2 per cent of the total population.